When was the m50 opened

Most traffic on the M50 in its early stage had been the hoped-for long distance motorists and truckers, as well as industry making its way around the large industrial estates of southwest Dublin. Later, plans that had been on the books for years to develop "town centres" code for shopping malls in the areas outside the road began to come to fruition.

First Tallaght, then Blanchardstown, then Lucan opened large malls between and The primary means of access to these centres was via the road network. Congestion was starting to become intolerable especially near the main interchanges. Their poor design was causing huge tailbacks both on the approaches, and on the M50 mainline itself. With only two M50 lanes each way, any queuing traffic taking the exit or entering the mainline disrupted the traffic flow, causing speeds to drop and weaving.

In response, as a temporary measure, left-turn ramps were added to the N4 and N7 junctions and certain other junctions received minor upgrades. This work was completed in but could only ever have a very minor role to play in congestion alleviation. After a lengthy construction period, the M50 was extended from Junction 11 N81 to Junction 13 Ballinteer and opened in July The road passes here through the foothills of the Dublin Mountains which are really just hills , so the sides are yellow-brown granite cliffs with an Australian feel.

The upgrade occurred in conjunction with some major distributor road construction in the Ballinteer and Sandyford areas to fuel their development for retail Dundrum Centre and office Sandyford Industrial Estate respectively. The strategy to increase the ease of access of the car to the areas was certainly successful, as they are now flooded with vehicles. In September , two light rail lines were opened in Dublin. The system was known as the Luas.

The Red Line originated in the centre of Dublin and ran as far out as Tallaght town centre. Needless to say, this made congestion at the junction even worse, as well as delay the Luas's crossing by several minutes at peak times.

Coming relatively quickly after the previous section, construction of the final long section of the M50 began as soon as possible. Straight away the project ran into major difficulty. The remains of the long lost Carrickmines castle, which appears on ancient maps of Dublin but whose exact location was unknown, were discovered when the bulldozers moved in. Immediately a protest group of green activists moved in and occupied the site. Finally, a decision was made to excavate the remains, preserve as much as possible, and bury the rest.

The site is in the centre of a roundabout and can be seen here. The largest part of the extension project was the pair of very complex junctions 13 and 14 , which were braided together.

Junctions 13 and 14 are connected with parallel services lanes, while 14 provides access to Sandyford westbound and Leopardstown eastbound, with overlapping ramps.

It's difficult to envisage, but the Dublin Eastern Bypass, a motorway connection to complete the ring around the city running from Sandyford to Dublin Port underground, is planned to join up with this junction too. How this would be fitted in to the spaghetti is anyone's guess. The rest of the stretch Jct was opened in June - minus the Carrickmines junction, on which work was late due to the protest. This one finally opened to traffic later that year in October. A chronic problem the centre of Dublin suffered from was the very large amount of truck traffic attempting to access Dublin Port.

Not only was this a great hazard to the safety and health of pedestrians and cyclists, it was also tearing up the road surface. The trucks utilised the Quays in the middle of town as an access route to the port which was to the east out in the bay. There had been a plan since the s to arrange for an alternative access route that would allow a connection to the motorway network without using city streets.

The road could not be built on the surface due to the destruction and expense that this would have incurred. The twin tunnels were 4. A total of m was built using cut-and-cover, with the rest drilled through solid rock. Work finally wrapped up in December , a full year late. There are twin anchor piers of reinforced concrete which splayed as they rise to deck level. The viaducts consist of 24 spans of 82 foot each.

These also have to be of dual construction, each half being supported on a single line of columns all made of reinforced concrete. Initially only one carriageway was open to traffic and the other opened in the spring of when the bridge was completed. With its associated embankment it is 2, feet long out over the river's flood plain. The actual Bridstow Bridge is a three-span pre-stressed concrete structure feet long with a clear span of feet in the centre and two approach spans of 75 feet.

The bridge is supported by two reinforced concrete piers, one on either side of the river and by reinforced concrete abutments. The actual embankment has a highest point of 33 feet and is pierced by seven flood relief arches.

There are several styles of flood arch. Some, like the one to the right, have a gully up the centre to channel run-off water whilst others have a smooth floor. The below-left shot is a s view is taken off the Bridstow Bridge and there is very little traffic to be seen. Also note that there are no crash barriers up the centre of the dual carriageway and that the pull-in place just after the bridge would hold only one or two cars. To the left the railway can just be made out and to the right can be seen Springfield House on top of the hill, which was the manor house to the north-west of Ross.

The below-right shot is a view taken from the pull-in place just after the Bridstow Bridge. There is much more traffic with a crash barrier up the centre of the dual carriageway and that the pull-in place is considerably larger than in the s. To the left the line of where the railway was is now obscured by the bushes on the verge and to the right Springfield House has been replaced by the sprawling Wye Croft Park housing estate. This shot shows the road between Ross and Hereford prior to the A40 bypass being built.

The junction is at Wilton, with Bridstow School in the background, and going off to the left is the old road to Monmouth. In the present day, this is where the roundabout is now. The construction of the motorway presented many excavation and filling problems for the labour force of over 1, men.

Additionally thousands of tons of stone had to be imported for the base courses of the carriageways. Because the motorway crossed three counties, the roads and bridges, apart from some of the major bridges and the bridges in Gloucestershire, were designed by the County Councils as Agent Authorities of the Minister of Transport.

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